The Olympics is an event that is as old as Western civilization itself. Sports and competitions such as those in the Olympics have shaped so many aspects of our cultures - competition, perseverance, striving for one's potential, etc. All of these things have become essential to our lives, and they come largely from sport, or else are exhibited in sport.

The Greeks viewed the Olympics as one of the most important events. They would begin the ceremony by sacrificing a hekatomb - that is, 100 healthy bulls. That's not a little. That's a ******** of wealth, all for Apollo, honoring the god of sport and athleticism. The achievements of Olympians gained them fame, honor, and success unparalleled at the time except in legend and war.

In modern sports, the same principles hold true. People sacrifice years of their lives, dedicate themselves to excelling in their sport. They show how good they can really be, and this progress goes not only to sport but to the lives and minds of those who play, by teaching themselves 'I can do it! And if I can't, I'm gonna make myself able!' There would be very few amazing things to our world if people did not think like this. And for Western civilization, this all goes back to the Olympics and beyond.

Both are critical. That's like arguing that water is more important than food. I agree that art is more immediately vital than sport, and is also a driving factor of all cultures. But without art or without sport, a fatal blow is dealt to our culture regardless.

Sidenote: The Greeks seemed to view sport as an art form. That's why they always performed while nude and oiled.

I just have trouble associating sport to an "intellectual" activity. It really seems to be all about who can prove to whom that he is stronger (or faster, or more agile, or has more endurance, etc.), and that seems a little too physical to be "human." It kind of seems like sports stem from our animalistic urges.

Art, on the other hand, is perfectly human. It's our creativity (which is unique to our species) and our sensibilities and tastes for beauty that fuel this activity.

Fair enough, actually. (And I'm not a big sports fan either, and since art is more widespread within a culture, I do agree that it's more important. However, like he said, something being important doesn't prove another thing isn't.)

Sports may seem more physical, which it mostly is admittedly, but it is also a mind game. You have to be able to read your opponent, out-maneuver them, know what your game-plan is before and after the game starts, getting inside your opponents head(I'd say mind games can be called creativity, no?), and the list goes on. You're just simply adding physicality to intelligence and creativity to beat your opponent. Even the dumbest of athletes can prove themselves smarter than others at times in their own games.

It's understandable. Our coaches actually instill within us the deviate from watching or learning a sport from the spectator's point of view because the focus is usually directed towards a main attraction (i.e. hockey fights as you pointed out, following the quarterback in football instead of reading the offensive set up, yada yada yada....). There's nothing wrong with being a spectator and wanting to see a fight, hell I like to watch hockey for its fights because they're epic. Ya just gotta understand from a player's perspective in the sport as well, which takes time.